Agents of a typical contact center have several states that are available to them. For instance, if an agent is logged in to the system but is at lunch or doing some other non-work activity they can be in an AUXILIARY state, which may also be referred to as an AUX state. Another state that is available to an agent is the BUSY state. This state signifies that the agent is currently handling a call from a customer and is not available to receive any other calls for that reason. A third state that the agent can occupy is the AVAILABLE state. When an agent has no current customers they are helping but is ready to help someone they will be in the AVAILABLE state. A fourth state that exists to call agents is the AFTER CALL WORK (ACW) state. This state lets the call controller or work assignment engine know that the agent is not on the phone with a customer but is doing work related activities for a customer. All of these states enable an agent to notify the work assignment engine of their availability or lack thereof, which in turn allows the work assignment engine to direct calls/contacts from customers to agents.
Each of the four states identified above are available to agents when they are logged into the system. Accordingly, each of the four above-identified states may be considered sub-states of a logged-in state. It should also be appreciated, that agents may have a logged-out state, which signifies that they are not logged into the contact center system.
Currently, the work assignment engine does not consider agents in the AUXILIARY state (“AUX agents”) when making a contact routing decision. Thus, when the contact center experiences a sudden influx of contacts, the customers will either experience extended wait times or backup agents will have to be brought into the pool of available agents, thereby increasing the costs associated with servicing the contact.
Current work assignment engine logic dictates that only agents in the AVAILABLE state be considered during a contact routing decision. Agents in other states are generally not considered. This can greatly reduce the efficiency of the contact center operation, especially during high-traffic periods where reserve agents may be required. The utilization of reserve agents to address fluctuations in traffic is not always possible or sufficient.